Original subtitles

[insects chirping]

[over distant car stereo] ♪ Stop the world and let me off ♪

[girl whoops in distance]

♪ I'm tired of going round and round ♪

[chattering in distance]

♪ I've played the game of love and lost ♪

[chattering continues]

[growing louder] ♪ So stop the world and let me off ♪

[girl] Let me off!

[man whoops] Let me off!

♪ My dreams are ♪

[group singing along] ♪ Shattered, don't you see? ♪

[man] Oh, Lord Almighty.

♪ Now you no longer care for me ♪

- [man] You don't care for me. - [girl] Sing it, Cal!

♪ I miss the wonder ofyour kiss ♪

[man] Yeah, Cal, come on!

[car approaching]

We're singing up here. Pull your weight, buddy.

♪ How could you leave me here like this? ♪

[singing along] ♪ Stop the world and let me off ♪

[man] Let me off!

♪ I'm tired ofgoing round and round... ♪

[girl whoops]

- [man] That's right. Let's get in there. - [insects trilling]

[girl] We're there!

♪ So stop the world and let me off ♪

Hey, don't forget the beers. Okay?

- [man] I ain't gonna forget the beers. - [girl] Go!

- [man] Come on. - [engine and music stop]

Come on.

I'll give you a boost if you want.

[girl chuckles] I don't need your help.

Ooh, hell, she got you, buddy.

[girl grunts]

- Toss them beers. - Here you go.

- You got it? - Okay, let's go.

[man] All right, all right.

Hold up, hold up. The beer.

[man] Take this. Take this.

Come on.

These damn shoes.

[grunts, whoops]

[chattering, muffled]

[splashing]

- [laughter] - Come on in. It's warm.

Come on, buddy.

Look, you can even wash your hair.

- [girl and man laugh] - I washed mine last month.

- [girl yelps, laughs] - [man laughs]

- [man] Hey. Come on. - [girl chuckles] Hey.

- [girl] Jerk. - [man] Watch this. Do it to me.

[splashing]

- [man groans] - [girl whoops]

Laura, Keith, come here. Look what I found.

[motorboat approaching]

- Holy shit. - [Keith] What the hell is that?

- [Laura] What is it... - [man on loudspeaker] Hell you doing?

- Get out of here! Now! - [gasping, grunting]

- Jeez! - Come on!

[man] Goddamn kids.

[group shouting indistinctly]

[Keith] Give me my damn clothes! Come on!

[Laura] Go, go, go, go! [whoops]

Turn off the beam, fool.

[man] We got Steve from Dow,

Ted from Union Carbide, Jerry from Exxon

and Andy from Allied.

Welcome to Taft Law, gentlemen.

Before we get started, a little housekeeping.

Um, all of you know this young man as the dedicated Taft associate

who for the past eight years has buried himself in the Superfund law.

- I'm not paying for that cleanup. - [laughter]

Well, still it is my pleasure to share with you that just last week,

Rob Bilott was welcomed as a partner

- here at Taft, Stettinius & Hollister. - Mm-hmm.

- Good. Good. - Congratulations.

Good morning. Taft Law. One moment. I'll connect you.

[chattering]

Good morning. Taft Law.

One moment, please.

It's the governor's office calling for, uh...

calling for Mr. Burke.

May I help you?

Wilbur Tennant calling on Robbie Bilott.

[Rob] EPA saddled them with the whole bill,

and given your client's history at that site,

that's a real possibility.

- [lawyer] I'll take it back to them. - [man] Good.

Tab 12, Middletown...

[woman] I know. I'm sorry.

- But they won't leave. - Who's "they"?

I don't know. They say they know you.

Um...

Robbie Bilott?

Um... yes.

They call it a landfill. A dump's what it is.

They told my brother and me no chemicals, just trash,

but we ain't stupid.

Made them videotapes myself. All the proof you need.

They're poisoning the creek, killing my animals.

- I'm in the middle of a meeting. - So I want a lawyer.

Every damn one in Parkersburg too yellow to take my case.

Rob, he wants you back in there.

They're all scared shitless of DuPont.

Well, I ain't scared of nobody.

Okay. Kathleen is my paralegal.

She's gonna give you a directory of lawyers.

That's why I called your grandma.

What?

My neighbor tells me, "Call Alma White.

Her grandson's some fancy environment lawyer down in Cincinnati."

[receptionist] Reception.

Yes, sir, he's right here. Yes...

[chuckling] Sir, I am a corporate defense attorney.

- So? - I defend chemical companies.

Well, now you can defend me.

[man] Rob.

Uh, 30 seconds, Tom.

- Uh, I'm sorry, Mr... - Tennant.

I can offer you a referral, but I'm just...

I just don't see how I can be of any help to you.

You can start by watching them tapes, for one thing.

Oh, let's go, Earl.

I'm sorry. I... I wish you all the luck.

Don't need your damn luck, boy. I need your help.

[Tom] Rob!

[Kathleen] I'll be back for this, all right?

[receptionist] Okay, sure.

Come on.

I'm not arguing with the overall analysis.

My only point is that whatever we decide upon...

[lawyer] Thank you, gentlemen.

[quiet murmuring]

Do you know where we're going?

- It's a place right around the corner. - Yeah?

What the hell was that all about?

He knows my grandmother.

Really?

Well, my mom's from West Virginia, uh, from a town, Parkersburg.

Not us. My father was Air Force.

We moved around a lot, but we spent the summers there.

[Steve] Come on, Terp. You're buying.

Of course I am.

You can be from West Virginia, Rob.

I won't tell anyone.

[laughter, chattering]

[Tom] All right, gentlemen. Morton's it is.

- Three-martini lunch. - [sighs]

Still deign to eat with us lowly associates?

You can't drive an American car.

Taft-Hartley? Union busting?

We practically invented it.

"We"? Besides, I know a highly esteemed partner

who still drives American.

Some real clunkers, too.

Okay, yeah, but he collects them. That's different.

Like his no-name college and law school.

- No offense. - Are you listening to this?

Hey, you guys go ahead, all right?

- Hey, look, I didn't mean anything by it. - Oh, no, I got to make a call.

It's all right. I'll see you there.

- Okay, we'll save you a fish log. - Yeah.

- [woman] You can be such an asshole. - [man] Carla, it was a joke.

- [Carla] Yeah. - [man] We always joke.

[Carla] Oh, yeah, you guys are a couple of jokesters. Anyway...

[line ringing]

[Alma, recorded] You've reached the residence ofAlma White.

I can't come to the phone right now...

He's good. He's home early tonight, actually.

[Sarah's mom on phone] Tell him I say, "Howdy, partner."

She says, "Howdy, partner."

Are we ever gonna see him again on Sundays?

[Sarah] Yes, he can still come to Sunday dinners, Mom.

He's a partner, not the president of the United States.

I want to make... Do you have my Bundt pan?

- Returned it. - Where? I looked under the counter.

It's in the right-hand cupboard, in the plastic.

- Yeah. - I thought...

- Okay, well, we just sat down. - All right, dear.

- So I got to go. - Love to Rob and Teddy.

All right, see you Sunday.

- Love to Dad. - Talk to you later.

Can you pretend to be surprised about the cake?

She wants it to be very special.

Oh, and the granite samples came in.

Can you pick them up on your way home tomorrow?

Mm.

- Rob? - Hmm? Oh, sure.

[Sarah whispers] Father, Son and the Spirit. Thank you.

[Teddy fussing]

- You okay? - Yes.

[gasps]

Bless us, our Lord, and these thy gifts which we are about to receive

from thy bounty, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Thank you, God, for our food. Thank you for family.

Mm... [smacking lips]

[quietly] Thank you.

[engine idling]

[engine stops]

[train horn blows in distance]

[knocking]

Hi, Grammers.

[laughing] What on earth?

[gasps]

I tried to call, but you weren't picking up.

Oh, well, you know me. My two fake knees. [laughs]

What are you doing here?

A, uh, farmer came to see me.

Wilbur Tennant?

You do know him.

I don't socialize with him, if that's what you mean.

Inez Graham owned the farm next to his.

I used to take you and Beth over there when you were little.

That's the place?

[scoffs]

[drawer opens]

[chuckles]

- You rode that pony. - Ah.

[Alma laughing]

[Rob] I loved that place.

You saw a cow for the first time. Learned to milk it.

I remember you sitting there for hours making sure you got every last drop.

Just like you.

There.

[Rob] Mm.

So, you gonna help him?

Huh?

[engine rattling and grinding]

[machinery whirring, beeping]

[machinery rattling]

[Wilbur] You come up the holler.

Dump's up the hill.

Since I started complaining about my creek, fence goes up.

- All blocked off. - [dishes clattering]

Hi. I'm Rob.

Sandra.

The state, any veterinarian I called in Parkersburg...

they will not return my phone calls.

- Like I bite the hand that feeds. - No, it's all right.

- I've already... - This here's a gall.

Look at the size of it. Ain't never seen no gall that big.

Bigger than the heart.

That your cow's?

Look at them teeth.

Black as night. Here.

[Wilbur grunts]

Hoof, all turned in on itself.

Half my calves born hooves like that.

Tumor I done cut off the back a heifer.

How'd you like that on your table?

[Rob] What am I looking for?

You blind, boy?

Stones as white as the hairs on my head.

Bleached. That's chemicals, I'm telling you.

My animals drink this water, cool off in there.

Get them bloody welts, them dead eyes.

Charge at me, crazy-like.

Animals that used to eat out of my own hand.

[cow lowing]

[Rob] Where are the rest of them?

Come on.

In the beginning, I'd bury 'em, each one. They're family.

It got to be so many, pile 'em up, set fire to...

How many did you lose?

- A hundred and ninety. - [exhales sharply]

A hundred and ninety cows?

You tell me nothing's wrong here.

[Rob] And... this landfill wasn't always here?

[Wilbur] No. My brother Jim used to dig ditches over at DuPont plant.

Got sick. Couldn't do it no more.

One day, they come to him,

offering to buy his land right up that holler.

They promised no chemicals.

And I assume you reached out to DuPont?

DuPont, the state, the feds.

I called everybody there is dozens of times.

EPA finally comes out here.

- Oh, they did? - Well, all for some report.

What did it say?

You think they're gonna show me?

[Sarah sighs] Oh, hey.

[Teddy squeals, cries]

- He's been like this all day. - [children's song playing]

- Okay. Go on. - Come here. Aw.

- [Sarah sighs] - Aw.

[crying stops]

Of course you're a perfect angel for Daddy.

- [sighs heavily] - [crying continues]

Did you get the tile?

Um, I'm sorry. No.

- Rob... - [crying stops]

I didn't drive into town today. I'm sorry.

What do you mean you didn't drive into town?

- [crying continues] - I... I had to go to Parkersburg.

Parkersburg? Why'd you have to go to Parkersburg?

Uh...

I... I may have a client there.

- In West Virginia? - [crying stops]

What kind of a case would you have...

He's a farmer. He knows my grammer. Not well, but...

So, you saw her?

[Rob chuckles]

- Was your mother there? - Oh, come on, Sarah.

I didn't sneak off to see my mother.

So, why did you sneak off?

I didn't.

[garbage disposal grinding]

Our speaker tonight's no stranger to the Taft family.

Phillip Donnelly... Phil to us...

serves as in-house corporate counsel at DuPont,

not only one of America's most revered chemical companies...

[no audible dialogue]

...but one of the few giants of the industry

that Taft doesn't represent.

Not yet, anyway.

- That's the spirit, James. - [laughter, murmuring]

We asked Phil here tonight not just to show him what he's missing,

but to hear how a renowned leader of our industry stays that way.

Please welcome Phil Donnelly.

- Wish me luck. - Go get 'em, Phil.

Thank you.

[Phil] At DuPont, we're not producing chemicals for chemicals' sake.

We're producing them for people's sake.

To make folks' lives easier, happier, longer.

That's why "better living through chemistry"

is not just a slogan at DuPont.

- It's our DNA. - [crowd murmuring]

- Hey, Rob. - Hello, Phil.

Is it true what Tom tells me?

- Yeah, it's true. - Well, good on them.

- They're lucky to have you. - Thanks, Phil.

Like I always tell my young associates, just keep your head down and do the work.

Thanks. Uh, Phil, can I ask you sort of an odd question?

Shoot.

Does the name Wilbur Tennant ring a bell?

- Tennet, did you say? - Tennant.

No, not that I recall.

Mr. Tennant's a farmer from West Virginia.

His property abuts one of your landfills, Dry Run,

and his cows have been getting sick.

He thinks possibly because of the runoff from the landfill into his creek.

You're kidding. How did this come to you?

- [stammering] - [man] Hey, Phil.

He's a... a farmer. He's...

My grandmother's from Parkersburg.

Really? Washington Works. Great plant.

Right. She knows the Tennants.

- So, Grandma's on your back, huh? - Something like that. Anyway, uh...

the farmer said the EPA came out, took a look around.

I wondered...

- The name of the landfill again? - Dry Run.

Dry Run. Dry...

You know, that does ring a bell, now that you mention it.

We may have even sent some folks out there,

if I remember correctly, to help EPA check it out.

That... That's got to be it.

So I'd love to share whatever came of that with Mr. Tennant, help settle his nerves.

Absolutely. Soon as I'm back in Wilmington, I'll take a look.

Thanks, Phil. I really appreciate it.

Happy to do it.

Now, let's get a drink and toast you, my friend. You.

- [chuckling] All right. - Okay, then.

Mr. Tennant!

Mr. Tennant.

I have the report.

Sons of bitches. Who the hell they think they are?

Who gives them the right?

- It's an evaluation. - "Evalu..."

Hatchet job's what it is.

I've been farming my entire life. Entire life!

You read that. You tell me you recognize my farm.

- Mr. Tennant... - Read it!

"The herd health investigation revealed deficiency in herd management,

including poor nutrition, inadequate veterinary care,

and lack of fly control."

You see any flies here?

It's snowing.

Can't stop making excuses for 'em, can you?

It could be pests. They consulted a vet.

Whose vet? DuPont?

[sighs]

Look at yourself.

Swallowing whole whatever they've been feeding you.

Can't tell truth from lie.

You even watch them tapes I gave you?

Sir, I am trying to help.

Quiet.

- Trying to help. - [cow moaning]

Stop moving.

[moaning continues]

- [cow bellows] - Easy, now. Easy.

Get in.

Slow.

[cow bellows]

[cow squeals, bellows]

- [gunshot] - [cow whimpers]

[dog growling]

[barks]

Forgive me, girl.

[bellows]

- [gunshot] - [grunts]

[dog barking]

[Wilbur] Jesus.

[engine stops]

[radio DJ] Need something to warm you up right about now?

Well, how about this?

["Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver playing]

♪ Almost heaven ♪

♪ West Virginia ♪

♪ Blue Ridge Mountains ♪

♪ Shenandoah River ♪

♪ Life is old there ♪

♪ Older than the trees ♪

♪ Younger than the mountains ♪

♪ Growing like a breeze ♪

♪ Country roads ♪

♪ Take me home ♪

♪ To the place ♪

♪ I belong ♪

♪ West Virginia ♪

♪ Mountain mama... ♪

[Wilbur] One thing or another.

This cow's eyes are cloudy with... the pink eye is what they'll call it.

Anyway, her eyes are sunk way back in her head.

- [flies buzzing] - She's poor as a whip-poor-will.

And I'm gonna cut her open and find out what caused her to die.

'Cause I was feeding her enough feed

that she should've gained weight instead oflosing weight.

This is what her teeth looks like.

- [flies buzzing] - That's the upper one.

But this one here...

I've never seen anything like it in my lifetime.

Even the veterinarian, he'd been in it,

he would've never saw anything like this before in his life, either.

[flies buzzing]

[static hissing]

[Rob clears throat]

[Tom] So, what...

are you proposing we do?

File a claim, trigger discovery, and find out what's in that landfill.

You want to sue DuPont?

Targeted. Property dispute. Routine stuff.

Not routine. Not around here.

I know, but, Tom, if you'd actually seen it.

His farm is like a graveyard. There's something very wrong.

So he should hire a local lawyer.

None of them will do it. They're all terrified of DuPont.

- What does that tell you? - We know DuPont.

They're gonna want to hear

if some of their local guys are screwing something up.

Oh, so they're gonna thank us for suing them?

Better us than the EPA.

I mean, new partners are supposed to bring in business, right?

So your farmer can swing $275 an hour?

It'd be, uh, on contingency.

[sighs] Jesus. What are we, coupon chasers now?

It's a small matter for a family friend.

I'll get in and I'll get out.

Help a guy who needs it.

Who? The farmer or you?

[sighs]

[Rob clears throat, sighs]

Surgical. You hear me?

Absolutely. Thank you.

[Phil on phone] Come on, Rob.

Of course I'm gonna take your call.

Even though I was, I admit, a little surprised.

I mean, getting sued by Taft Law?

It's not every day, or any day, frankly.

I know. I'm sorry.

Look, you and I are friends. This is a minor issue.

No reason it should get messy.

[Rob] Uh, thank you. I, uh, totally agree.

- Yeah, I'm putting you on speakerphone. - [phone beeps]

[Phil] So, you want to know if we violated our permits.

Pretty much, yeah.

[Phil] Okay, then. I'll have ourguys send over

anything related to hazardous waste at Dry Run,

and I'll tell them to hurry it up this time.

- How's that? - [Rob] Thank you. That sounds great.

[Phil] And don't stress. I forgive you.

- [Rob] Thanks, Phil. - [hangs up]

- [birds chirping] - [kids chattering in distance]

[vehicle approaching]

You took your baby into the office.

[groans] I needed a bigger trunk.

Why?

Discovery for the Tennant case came in today.

Oh.

[Sarah] Oh, you started before me.

- You're so fast! - Oh, you like that?

- What do you think about that? - [Sarah's mom] Good boy.

[sighs]

Rob's missing such a lovely day.

Law's a jealous mistress, Mom. Means it comes with the territory.

- Let's go over here! - [yells playfully]

[Sarah's brother] Nice! Thank you. That's what I'm talking about right there.

[sportscaster] No score, just underway in the top of the first.

All right, let's go. One more, one more. All right.

[sportscast continues, faint]

"Phenyl..."

[papers rustling]

[mutters] "Poly."

What's that?

No.

- Mm... - [typing]

How's my favorite plaintiff's attorney?

[Rob] Hey, help me out, will you?

You're a run-of-a-mill dump, nothing but trash.

You sound like my first girlfriend.

[chuckles]

Why a requisition order for 55-gallon containers?

Conspiracy.

Standard-size drums.

Ash, ash by-product, glass tubing, plastic, paper waste.

It's just trash. You pile it onto a truck, drive it away.

You don't pack it into drums.

- So they've got liquid waste. - Not hazardous.

Or they'd have to disclose it. So, what is killing these cows?

- It's not paper and ash. - Well, maybe it's human error.

They're dumping something in there they don't know is toxic.

[chuckling] Kim, it's DuPont.

They know more than the EPA does.

Everyone knows more than the EPA does.

Why else would they let us regulate ourselves?

What?

Do we?

Do we what?

The EPA only started regulating chemicals in '76.

Yeah?

They grandfather in every existing chemical nonhazardous

unless they knew it was hazardous or a company told them it was.

- We're saying the same thing. - No, we're not.

I'm saying, what if a company didn't tell?

What if the reason Phil Donnelly agreed to discovery on hazardous

is because he knows

whatever's in that landfill isn't even regulated?

Okay, now you are sounding like a plaintiff's attorney.

I've got a meeting.

Hey. Oh, wait one second.

Have you... Have you heard of this, um, PFOA?

No.

Uh, you know, it's mentioned here,

but I can't find anything about it in any of the literature.

I don't even know if it's a chemical.

Ask Phil.

Well, thank you.

[secretary] As I said, Mr. Donnelly is still out of town.

Well, I called last week and left two messages

and haven't heard back from him.

[secretary] I will be sure to tell him that you called again.

- Okay. Damn it. - [hangs up phone]

Your tickets to the Chemical Alliance dinner.

[Rob groans]

And, no, dark suit is not the same as black tie.

Wouldn't he be going?

[band playing soft jazz music]

[chattering]

[chattering]

[Sarah laughing]

I don't know if Rob told you,

but I was a receptionist at Taft before law school.

- Is that right? - Yeah, but, well,

I think the right Bilott ended up there.

- Harold, you're not getting away from me. - Oh.

- Would you excuse me? - Sure, it was...

- It's great to see you. - When is the...

- [laughing] - That's funny. [laughing]

Right away, I saw a little of myself in Rob.

- Oh. - One black sheep to another.

- My dad was a steelworker, you know. - [gasps] Was he?

- Yeah. - Have you seen Phil?

[Kim] No.

- So, you're an attorney? - Oh, uh, recovering.

I represented employers in workmen comp disputes,

but now I stay at home with our baby.

[chuckles] Well, that's the thing with lady lawyers.

- [woman] Oh. Oh, Gerald! - [man] Oh.

I want to say hi to the Dow folks. Have you seen them?

No, I've been looking for Phil.

Did I tell you they sent me some work?

Dow? That's great.

Just a small project, like a tryout.

But if I impress them, can you imagine if I brought on Dow?

- [Rob chuckling] - Uh, none for me, thank you.

You're not...

I'm, um...

You're...

- She's... You... - I'm... [sighs]

I'm gonna wait as long as I can to tell the firm, obviously.

Would you excuse us for a moment? These lady lawyers need a quick sidebar.

- [Rob] Congratulations. - [Carla] Thank you.

Of course.

- No, no... - He probably signs your paycheck.

- Be nice to him. - Don't leave me.

[Sarah and Carla laughing]

- [Sarah] Congratulations. - [Carla] I know. I can't believe it.

[chattering]

Uh, uh, excuse me.

Uh, Rob, how are you?

Yeah, Phil, I've been trying to reach you.

Sorry, all this traveling. How about I give you a shout tomorrow?

We're gonna need to broaden discovery

to everything in that landfill, hazardous or not.

[Tom] Turns out good lawyers. Turned out...

Excuse me.

You kidding me?

[Rob] No. Um...

I think whatever's causing problems in there

isn't something the EPA regulates or knows to regulate.

Sorry?

I'm seeing things in your documents I don't understand.

You're seeing ghosts is what you're seeing.

And, frankly, you're making an ass of yourself.

Okay, then help me out. I mean, like this.

I mean, what is this, uh, PFOA?

- What's that stand for? - [scoffs]

Jesus. You're on a goddamn fishing expedition.

You want to flush your career down the toilet for some cowhand?

Be my guest. I'm done helping you.

Phil, I need to insist on broadening discovery.

Sue me!

I'm already suing you.

Welcome, everyone,

to the 14th annual Ohio Chemical Alliance...

- Fuck you! - ...awards dinner.

[applause]

Hick.

[man] So, let's get the fun started!

[guests murmuring]

I'm sorry.

You're not the only one who's sacrificed.

I just hope you know what you're doing.

[door opens, closes]

You know the difference between business and pleasure, right?

So, why on earth would you engage in business conversations

at a public function?

[Rob] Tom. He's hiding something. You saw his reaction.

Yeah, me and everyone in that room.

Taft in a pissing match with DuPont.

I am gonna get a court order

and force them to tell me everything that's in that landfill.

Jesus Christ, now you want to actually take them to court.

And I'm gonna need local counsel in West Virginia.

What happened to routine stuff?

- Get in, get out? God! - Ask Phil Donnelly.

[man] Of course I remember you.

[chuckles]

Yeah, last time I saw you, I think Phil Donnelly

was trying to get you to go out on the links with us.

- [chuckling] Yeah. - [Rob] Actually, I'm suing him,

and I was looking for some advice on local counsel.

You what?

- Larry. - Thank you.

- Good morning. - Okay.

- Good morning, Larry. - Morning.

Morning, Miss Claire.

Don't you look nice.

Save it for the judge, Mr. Winter.

[chuckles]

[Claire] You're suing DuPont.

[stamp clicking]

[Larry] Yes, ma'am.

You represent DuPont.

My old firm did.

I've been out on my own for a while.

Good luck with that.

[Phil] Just wanted to let you know personally

that your court-ordered discovery is on the way.

Thanks, Phil.

No, it's my pleasure.

Discovery.

[quiet mechanical rattling]

[heavy thud]

Son of a bitch.

All right, no admission of liability.

- And non... - [wheels rattling]

Nondisclosure of any and all terms.

Pardon me a moment.

[chattering]

[grunting]

Thanks.

Holy Jesus.

- What in the... - Thanks.

...world?

I guess the joke's on me.

- Yeah. - Hmm.

No one can go through all this crap, not in a million years.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what they're banking on.

- Oh, goddamn it! - Oh, God, Rob.

[coughing]

- Here, let me... - No, no, no.

You shouldn't be around this stuff.

- You sure? - I'm positive.

Thank you, though.

Yeah.

Good luck.

[sighs]

1957.

- [chattering] - [music playing faintly]

[man] Egg salad. What is the holdup back there?

- Hey, Bobby. How you... - What are you having?

Usual.

Eggs over, bacon and grits.

Same.

[Bobby] I need two over, grits, twice.

[Wilbur on phone] Wilbur Tennant.

[Kathleen] He's not in his office. Can I take a message?

I been leaving messages.

I know, Mr. Tennant,

but he really can't get to the phone right now.

I want service! [coughs]

- I'll let him know that you called again. - For Christ's sakes.

[click, dial tone]

Is she getting accustomed to being at Mom and Dad's?

[Beth, breaking up] You know Grammer. She misses her own house.

- What? Uh... - She misses her own house.

Um, I have a bad cell.

I said Grammer misses her own house.

Okay, can you... Can I talk to her?

Well, she and Mom are at the doctor's.

Will you tell Grammers I called?

Rob, you're breaking...

- You're breaking up. - And Mom, too.

- Let's try again on Sunday. - All right.

[sighs]

[Rob] "C-8."

You know you look like a crazy person, right?

What was the name of that guy that you brought by?

- The, um... - What guy?

Th-Th-The chemistry expert.

- The guy who does the models. - Gillespie.

Here you go.

- Thank you. - Mm-hmm.

Kim Burke had an expense account.

- Oh, sorry. It's not that kind of case. - Hmm.

Are you familiar with something called PFOA?

No.

- No. No. - [clicks tongue]

I did read something recently about a PFOS, I think it was.

That sounds related.

And what was that?

Long-chain fluorocarbon, synthetic.

[chuckles]

I'm sorry. Chemistry was my worst class in high school.

[chuckling] Boy, you in the wrong line of work.

Tell me about it. So?

- So, synthetic. Right? Man-made. - Mm-hmm.

- Uh, Frankenstein. - [chuckles] And?

Um, long-chain fluorocarbon is a sequence of carbon atoms, add a fluoride.

All right, in the lab, you take a carbon atom.

- Mm-hmm. - And then you add another carbon atom.

And then another and another.

Look.

You're making a chain, right?

Right?

Could it be... eight? Eight carbons?

Well, sure. Yeah. In the lab, you can do almost anything.

And why would you want to?

Make this, I mean.

Well, a chain like that's pretty much unbreakable,

biochemically speaking.

So, uh, industrial uses, I imagine.

3M made it.

They don't anymore. That's what I read.

And why did they stop?

Didn't say.

What if...

What if you drank it?

Drank it? You don't.

- But what if you did? - [waitress] Ready to order?

- Yeah, I think I'd like a... - Wait.

What if you did?

That's like saying, "What if I swallowed a tire?"

I don't know. You want to be the guy that finds out?

Tuna melt.

- [church organ playing] - [chattering]

[preacher] Let us all begin

with hymn number 452 in our hymnal books:

"Here I Am, Lord."

Please rise.

[congregation] ♪ I, the Lord of sea and sky ♪

♪ I have heard my people cry ♪

♪ All who dwell in deepest sin ♪

♪ My hand will save ♪

♪ I have made... ♪

[Teddy] It makes sounds here.

[female voice, recorded] Asteroid ahead.

[laughs] Makes sounds like that.

[male voice, recorded] Are you ready to blast off?

[toy makes whooshing sound]

[muttering]

[Teddy] I'm taking off that.

[Teddy babbling]

You said it had fluoride?

[Gillespie over phone] What? Mr. Bilott, it's Sunday.

That chemical, you said it had a fluoride atom.

[scoffs] It's a fluorocarbon, so yes. Somewhere along the chain...

What would it do to your teeth if you drank it?

Don't tell me if you shouldn't.

If you drank a lot of it, what would it do to your teeth?

Well, in trace amounts, fluoride hardens teeth,

but too much, it's gonna stain 'em.

I mean, even turn 'em black.

So, can I get back to my family now?

Whoa, whoa. Where are you going?

- It's in their water. - What? What is?

- [papers rustling] - [boxes clattering]

[Wilbur coughing]

[doctor] How long's the coughing been?

[Wilbur] Couple... Couple months.

- A year. - [doctor] You a smoker?

No. [coughing]

Roll up your sleeve. We're gonna take some blood.

[nurse clears throat]

[dog barks]

Thought you left him inside.

I did.

- [barking] - [Sandra sighs]

Oh, baby.

[growls, barking]

You move this?

What?

Did you go through this?

No.

They been here. They been here.

[dog whining]

[faucet running]

[hammering]

- [girls chattering] - [door opens]

[Wilbur coughs]

What happened?

Wash up.

- [helicopter whirring] - [barking]

[girl] Dad?

- What is it? - Quiet.

[barks]

[Wilbur] This is my land, damn you! You get out of here!

Go on!

Go on!

- Sandra, girls, go on! - What's going on?

Go on, get in! Get in!

I know you!

[clears throat]

[exhales sharply]

[clattering, faint]

Rob?

[clattering continues]

[clattering continues]

[gasps] Holy crap. Rob!

What?

I thought someone was breaking in, for God's sakes!

No, it's just me.

You need to tell me what in the hell's going on.

We're being poisoned.

- Rob. - What?

I mean it. DuPont is knowingly poisoning us.

You mean the farmer, his land.

All of us.

Please don't look at me like that.

They're already poisoning the baby.

No. No, I'm not listening to this.

- Sarah... - Stop it! Just stop it, okay?

Do you hear yourself? You are acting like a crazy person.

Tearing up our floor, scaring me half to death.

I know it's my job to support you,

but that does not mean you get to come into our home, to our family,

and tell me that our unborn child is being poisoned.

- No! - I'm sorry.

- Can I please explain? - Explain what?

All of it.

And if you still think I'm crazy, I'll drop it. I swear to God.

I swear to you.

[Rob sighs]

There is a man-made chemical.

It was invented during the Manhattan Project.

It repelled the elements, especially water.

So they used it to make the first-ever waterproof coating for tanks.

It was indestructible.

Then some companies thought, "Hey, why just the battlefield?

Why not bring this chemical into American homes?"

- [secretary] Rob's here. - [Tom over phone] All right, good.

[secretary] He'll see you now.

[Rob] DuPont was one of those companies.

So they took this chemical, PFOA, they renamed it C-8...

and they made their own impenetrable coating,

but not for tanks.

For pans.

They called it Teflon.

A shining symbol of American ingenuity

made right here in the USA in Parkersburg, West Virginia.

But right from the start, something wasn't right.

The men and workers who made Teflon were coming down with nausea, fevers.

DuPont wanted to know why.

So they laced cigarettes with Teflon.

They told a group of the workers, "Hey, smoke these."

DuPonters did as they were told.

Almost all those men were hospitalized.

That's 1962,

one year after Teflon launched, and already DuPont knew.

The dust, they just sent right up the smokestacks,

released into the air.

The sludge, tossed it into the Ohio.

Or, uh, packed into drums and chucked it into the Chesapeake.

But then the drums started washing up.

So DuPont starts digging ditches

on the grounds of the Washington Works plant,

and in those pits, they dumped

thousands of tons of toxic C-8 sludge and dust.

One of the men that they hired to dig those ditches

was Wilbur Tennant's brother Jim.

But they weren't the only ones covering their tracks.

3M, who pioneered these chemicals for Scotchgard,

they were testing them on monkeys.

Most of the monkeys died.

It wasn't like DuPont didn't know that,

because they were doing their own tests on rats.

Watched their organs balloon.

Now the rats are getting cancers.

Tested them on pregnant rats and watched them give birth

to pups with deformed eyes.

So they yanked all the young women off the Teflon line

and never told them why.

[medical monitor beeping]

Sue Bailey's job was scrubbing these huge steel vats

where they held the liquid C-8.

She was pregnant.

I love you.

[Sarah chuckles] Would you stop?

[Rob] She gave birth to a baby with one nostril and a deformed eye.

Remember how DuPont had seen those deformities in the rats?

[whispers] Oh, God.

[Rob] What about his eyes?

- Blue, just like all newborns. - [baby fussing]

But they're normal, the lids, the pupils?

- Mr. Bilott, relax. - [baby crying]

- He's perfect. - [chuckles]

Ah, hey. Hi, Charlie.

[Rob] So Sue goes to DuPont.

She says, "Why did you pull me off the Teflon line?

Did C-8 make my baby this way?"

"No," they tell her.

Then all of her records from her time at Teflon disappear.

One year later, they put all of the women back on Teflon

and never say a thing.

He's here.

[Rob] DuPont knew everything.

They knew that the C-8 they put into the air

and buried into the ground for decades was causing cancers.

They knew that their own workers were getting these cancers.

They knew that the consumers, too, were being exposed.

And not just in Teflon.

In paints, in fabrics, in, uh, raincoats, boots.

To this day.

[Rob] For 40 years, you knew C-8 was poison.

You knew the Happy Pan was a ticking time bomb.

And you knew exactly why.

Because C-8, it stays in us forever.

Our bodies are incapable of breaking it down.

And knowing all of this, still you did nothing,

because doing something, quote...

"would essentially put the long-term viability

of this product segment on the line," end quote.

You were making too much money.

$1 billion a year, just in profit, just in Teflon.

And so you pumped millions more pounds of toxic C-8 into the air, into the water,

so much so you could actually see it foam.

C-8 was everywhere.

There was nowhere left for you to contaminate.

And that's when they came to Jim.

They knew he was sick and needed the money,

and they needed his land.

And when they got it, they dug up all the C-8

from every single pit at Washington Works...

14 million pounds of toxic C-8 sludge... and they dumped it again.

This time, right up there. Steps from your creek, from your house.

And that's what your cows have been drinking, Earl.

Put 'em behind bars.

Whole damn lot of 'em, rot in jail.

I understand, believe me, but this is a civil case.

The most we could hope for is damages.

Don't want no money!

Whole damn world need...

[coughing]

needs to see what they done.

You're right. They should.

And it kills me that they won't.

But that would mean going to trial and proving that C-8 killed your cows.

And every scientist who knows anything about any of this

already works for these chemical companies.

That's not an accident, Earl.

Earl, these companies, they have all the money,

all the time, and they'll use it.

Trust me, I know. I was one of them.

You're still one of 'em.

[scoffs]

You can't be serious.

You know what I put on the line here?

You want a prize?

Some medal 'cause, for once in your life, you took the side of the little guy?

Sorry, no prize.

All you get is your share of this blood money.

And you sleep real good tonight.

Talk to your family.

It ain't just my cows that was poisoned.

What you think I fed my family on?

Wilbur...

please!

Leave this place!

Start over! Give your family a fighting chance!

Too late for that.

We got it, Sandra and me, the cancer.

Surprise, surprise.

[bicycle bell dinging]

[Sarah] In here.

[cat meows]

How'd it go?

[sighs]

What's wrong?

Rob?

Rob, what is it?

What happened? What happened?

Oh, honey, honey, honey.

You saw a man hurting, and...

[sighs] you did the Christian thing.

- You helped him. - How? How? How?

Either he dies penniless,

or he lets DuPont just keep pillaging his community.

How is that helping?

Got to get some sleep.

[Sarah scoffs]

I can't believe a freaking case settlement could shut this up.

Have you read their confidentiality agreements?

You've uncovered a threat to the public. This goes beyond lawyering.

That's... [chuckles] That's all I know is lawyering.

Fine. Then be the lawyer.

You know DuPont better than anyone. What haven't they thought of?

[Sarah sighs]

[start-up music plays]

[clicks mouse]

[tapping keys]

- [loud thud] - [gasps]

Jesus, Mary and Joseph. What is that?

A memo and 136 exhibits.

[copier whirring]

[Rob] Wilbur, Sandra, this is your copy.

[cell phone chimes]

The EPA announced a public hearing

into this family of chemicals I've been looking into?

I heard about it from Tucker.

- [Tom] "Monsanto" Tucker? - Union Carbide now.

He says to me, "Is it true that a Taft lawyer

sent a phone book's worth of confidential DuPont documents

- to the entire federal government?" - Internal documents.

Not... Not confidential.

- Very different. - So you're testifying?

I signed up to testify, and the next thing I hear is

DuPont has petitioned a judge to stop me from testifying,

from flying to D.C., from even picking up the phone...

- They filed for a gag order. - [Rob] Yes.

- This is what we're up against. - [man laughs] Jesus.

- [Tom] David. - I mean, come on, Tom.

- What do you expect? - Where do we stand?

Well, the judge rejected the gag order, so I fly out Monday.

Nice.

I guess we'll just watch on C-SPAN.

You ever do anything like this again,

I will cut your balls off and serve them to DuPont myself.

Now get out of here.

Good luck in Washington.

Thanks, Tom.

[Rob on TV] This material, uh, is a perfluoro, or a PFOA.

It's also known as FC-143...

ammonium perfluorooctanoate.

It has been shown by DuPont's own science

that PFOA/C-8...

is possibly life-threatening to human health.

We are asking this agency to do something.

- ...presidential election in four decades. - [door opens]

Just look at these latest polls this morning...

[Joe] Did you forget to pay the water bill?

[Darlene] What?

[Joe] You forget to pay the water bill?

No.

We got a notice.

- [turns off TV] - What's it say?

Uh, "PFOA is a persistent chemical

that is slow to be eliminated from the bloodstream

of people who have been exposed to it.

The DuPont Company has advised the Lubeck Water District

that low concentrations have been found in the district's wells.

DuPont has advised the district that it is confident these levels are safe."

What the hell does that mean?

[Charlie fussing]

[Joe] A letter came last fall.

Made no sense to me, so I started making calls.

[Darlene] I told Joe, "Don't kick that hornet's nest."

It's not like we didn't know what we'd signed up for.

What do you mean?

Oh, I was married before Joe, um, to a chemist at DuPont.

Dream job. Paid real well. And the perks.

Presents for no reason.

We'd get this catalog. Just pick whatever you want.

And little stuff.

Like he'd bring home this soap, this miracle powder.

You put it in the washing machine or the dishwasher.

Just wipes stuff clean like you would not believe.

One day, he comes home and says, "Can't bring that stuff home no more."

"Why?" Won't tell me.

Then he'd get sick for weeks.

The Teflon flu, the guys would call it.

We knew something wasn't right.

But this house, we bought it

just by showing the bank my husband's DuPont ID.

Put both our kids through college. Engineers.

In this town, that doesn't come without a price.

My brother Kenny didn't know that price.

He joined DuPont at 19.

Died on the operating table two years later.

Ulcerative colitis.

[Darlene] Just like Dan Schiller had.

Who's Dan?

[Darlene] A chemist at DuPont. Worked with my ex-husband.

[Joe] And, uh, Roger, what's his name?

[Darlene] Wilkins, the foreman.

[Joe] Steven Gellar.

Randy Field.

Randy's was kidney cancer. He survived.

- [sighs] Yeah, his wife didn't. - No, June's was thyroid.

And it was supposed to be treatable.

Hmm. They didn't catch it in time.

But they caught it in their son.

[stammering] Were your children born, uh, healthy?

- Yes. Yes, they were. - Good.

But... we wanted a third and couldn't. I went to my doctor.

He says, "You need a hysterectomy. You need it right away."

- I'm so sorry. - Bad luck, I guess.

I was 36.

[Rob] Mr. Kiger, do you think I could get a copy of that letter?

What's wrong with your hand?

Nothing. It's fine.

- Whoa. Rob? - [turn signal ticking]

- [Sarah mutters] - [Rob scoffs]

- Rob, what are you doing? - [tires squeal]

I mean, it's not enough to poison these people?

- They got to swindle them, too? - Okay, calm down. All right?

DuPont wrote that letter, not the water authority.

How do you know that?

You think I don't know what a DuPont letter looks like by now?

Okay. Okay.

I mean, Jesus! It's evil, Sarah.

- It's fucking evil. - [Charlie crying]

What's "fack"?

Perfect. It's nothing, sweetie. It's nothing. Oh, boy.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry, honey.

[Sarah] Can you give Charlie the bottle, please?

- Where's his bottle? - It's in the bag. Here.

- What is all this? - [Rob] It's from Grammer's.

- Left in her mailbox. - [crying stops]

"Medical claims, now and forever"?

Here, bud.

"Now and forever." Is that the... that...

Medical monitoring, is that...

I thought you said that wasn't gonna pass.

[Tom] Morning.

[David] Morning, guys.

[chattering]

[Rob] Our lead plaintiff is Mr. Joe Kiger.

Potential plaintiff, if the partnership approves.

Mr. Joe Kiger, a phys ed teacher from Parkersburg, West Virginia,

on behalf of the 70,000 local residents

whose water DuPont knowingly poisoned for the last 40 years.

- A class action? - Let him finish.

The Kigers were notified by their local water company

that DuPont had found small concentrations of C-8 in their water supply,

but not to worry because those concentrations were safe.

Why? Because DuPont said so.

This is what DuPont considers safe.

That's something like one drop of water in an Olympic-size swimming pool.

In other words, even a trace of C-8 renders water unsafe.

But DuPont told the local water authority,

"Don't worry. Your wells have got even less than that."

- Except that was a lie. - A lie?

Yes. DuPont has been secretly testing these wells for decades.

They knew they had contaminated those wells

up to six times that level.

And thanks to the Tennant case, now we know, too.

Hold on. This stuff is unregulated, right?

I mean, as far as EPA's concerned,

- it might as well be rose petals. - [man] Yeah.

The EPA hasn't set a standard, that's true, but DuPont did.

And all the law requires to win a case like this

is to show that DuPont exceeded what DuPont itself considers safe.

Self-regulation.

[partner] If what you're saying is right...

- It is right. - ...then why would DuPont

tell this water district anything at all?

Seems to me that they're being a good corporate citizen here.

That's how long you have to file suit.

One year from the moment you realize your water's been contaminated.

This letter looks like it's telling people their water is safe.

In fact, it's notifying them that it isn't.

- DuPont has started the clock. - [David] Smart.

We would've counseled that.

It was sent 11 months ago, the moment they realized we knew.

In 30 days, they're home free.

So that's the proposed case in brief. But there's something else to consider.

[partner] You think?

- [Tom] Rob. - [quiet chuckle]

C-8 bioaccumulates. It builds up inside of us.

Some class members who aren't sick today

- will get sick tomorrow. - [partners murmuring]

We need a way to protect them into the future.

Jesus, Tom, if you're even thinking about using medical monitoring...

- Hold on. Hold on. - [partners murmuring]

Medical monitoring is a claim now permitted in West Virginia courts.

- [partner] Oh, come on. - [others murmuring]

Let's hear him out.

It says if a company exposes a community to something that makes them sick,

they must monitor the health of that community indefinitely.

[partner] Everybody get that?

You're creating liability from mere exposure.

It's also unprecedented.

Exactly. Which is why, not six months ago,

- we fought tooth and nail against it. - [Rob] And you lost.

Our clients have the right to avail themselves of the law.

Potential clients.

[James] Uh, okay. Um...

I know you, Rob. I know your passion.

Uh, you... you got a great settlement for your farmer.

You should be proud of that.

Uh, and perhaps, as the newest partner at this table,

I should be more circumspect.

But, uh, what he's proposing here is nothing less than a shakedown

- of an iconic American company. - We do not represent DuPont.

No, you don't represent anyone.

Is this what we have become?

Plaintiff's attorneys? Ambulance chasers?

I mean, why don't you just admit it? Rob, you want to flip.

You want to take everything that you know about how chemical companies operate

and turn it against DuPont, like an informant.

- That's enough. - [James] Isn't that right?

- [Tom] Okay. [stammers] - Isn't that right?

- Isn't that right? - Yes.

Okay, then I say we take a vote

and determine whether or not we continue in the tradition

that has distinguished this firm from everyone else in the industry...

[Tom] Okay, I'm running this meeting. Okay? You got that?

Has anyone even read the evidence this man has collected?

The willful negligence? The corruption?

Read it.

And then tell me we should be sitting on our asses.

- [bangs table] - That's the reason

why Americans hate lawyers.

This is the crap that fuels the Ralph Naders of the world.

We should want to nail DuPont.

All of us should.

American business is better than this, gentlemen.

And when it's not, we should hold them to it.

That's how you build faith in the system.

We're always arguing that companies are people.

Well, these people have crossed the line!

To hell with them!

It may come as a surprise

to corporate defense types like yourselves,

but there's more to the law

than just flooding the other side in papers.

From where I sit, you have to touch people.

You know, these girls, they handle the calls

from the class action members.

And there's thousands of 'em on any given case.

And it's here that we come to know their pain.

Isn't that right, Hazel?

Yes.

We hear it every day, and it's my job to make a jury feel that pain,

not out of pity, but out of fear.

Whatever it is that happened to my client,

that juror has to think, "That could happen to me."

[Rob] You just keep hammering it.

One part per billion, one part per billion.

It's their own documents, their own scientists.

- Absolutely. - All right?

They set that standard. They have to live with it.

Yeah, I think we can relax, Rob, though.

[chuckling] There's no way they're gonna prevail with a motion to dismiss.

This is procedural.

It's nonsense. We'll get a trial today.

[Rob] Okay, I'll catch you guys in there.

I'm gonna get a drink.

[water fountain humming]

I wouldn't drink that.

Earl.

How you doing?

Still here.

That's something, right?

Yes, that... that's something.

It's good to see you, Rob.

Can't let 'em...

shut you down.

Oh, I... I won't. I... I promise.

Whole world...

needs to know.

They will, Earl.

They will.

Hey, Rob? It's time.

I... I have to go.

[chattering]

[gavel raps]

We are here on defendant's motion

- to dismiss the case... - Hey, Joe. How are you?

...brought by Mr. Kiger, et al.

- Now... - [chattering]

...which one of you is Mr. Wallace?

Edward Wallace, Your Honor,

on behalf of E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company,

better known as DuPont.

Yes, I've heard of it.

- Your motion. - Thank you.

Your Honor, we're here today because of a uniquely American invention:

Teflon.

Since 1961, Teflon has liberated housewives...

No, no, no, no, no, no.

Oh, uh, excuse me. Homemakers throughout...

This is a courtroom, Mr. Wallace, not the Home Shopping Network.

[laughter]

Plaintiffs have alleged that DuPont did not meet

- its own standard of safety... - She's good, huh? She's good.

...with regard to the level of C-8 in the local water supply.

- Okay. - That's irrelevant, Your Honor.

We ask you to dismiss on grounds that the only standard that matters

is the one that elected government deems safe.

- [Rob] Not if it's unregulated. - It's government's job

to make these determinations, not any one company.

- That's a trap. - They can't revert back to...

I got it.

Is there a problem, Mr. Deitzler?

Apologies, Your Honor, but DuPont has been hiding

the dangers of this chemical from the government for a while now.

And they're asking you to let 'em off the hook

because they've succeeded in their strategy.

Government doesn't regulate C-8.

[Wallace] Uh, actually, that's not true.

- Oh? - No, no.

The West Virginia's C-8 Working Group has just issued a standard.

Here with us today is the governmental official who led that effort,

Dr. Mary-Sue Kimball.

And, Dr. Kimball, uh, as a senior member

of the state's Department of Environmental Protection,

isn't it, in fact, your duty to protect

- the citizens of West Virginia... - Mr. Wallace.

I'll cut to the chase.

What is the level of C-8 in drinking water

that the state of West Virginia has determined to be completely safe?

Watch it go from one part per billion to...

- Five? - Ten?

150 parts per billion.

[gasping, murmuring]

- Welcome to West Virginia. - [Wallace] The levels found in the wells

of all six water districts represented in this suit,

do they fall below this maximum level?

Well below.

Nothing else, Your Honor.

Your witness, Mr. Deitzler.

Wait, who's on the working group?

DuPont, of course, and who else?

- Who did the water testing? - [judge] Mr. Deitzler?

- When was it done? - One moment, Judge.

What was the sample size?

Yeah, I mean, we should be able to see...

- Going once. - Good job. Good job.

[judge] Going twice.

Dr. Kimball... [clears throat]

who were the members of this cabal you call the C-8 Working Group?

[Wallace] Objection.

Cool it, Mr. Deitzler.

Go ahead, Dr. Kimball.

Agency officials, representatives of the scientific community,

um, stakeholders.

Stakeholders? Which stakeholders?

Oh, wait. Let me guess. It rhymes with "bouffant."

[spectators chuckling]

DuPont is a stakeholder, yes.

[Deitzler] So, I see.

So, don't you find it peculiar that on the eve of a class action lawsuit

where DuPont might be considered liable for poisoning this community,

they get you to come in here suddenly

and reverse decades of their so-called heralded science?

That's false. I don't work for DuPont.

I didn't say you did.

But now you bring it up, we'll check back in a month.

- Your Honor... - Were you honestly

gonna plan on telling this community that they can drink 150 times more C-8?

I mean, "Come on, people. Bottoms up." That kind of thing?

- Honestly, Judge, this is not... - All right, Mr. Deitzler. Enough.

We'll be unveiling the new standard at an upcoming public hearing.

"Unveiling." Whoa, that sounds like a party.

We'll be there!

[all clamoring]

Their safety standards thing, that's all a sham.

Thanks to the judge's decision, we will have our day in court.

- [man] Yes, we will! - [cheering]

Because if the state of West Virginia

won't stop the DuPont corporation from literally poisoning its citizens,

then we, the citizens, will stop them ourselves.

[crowd cheering]

[woman on TV] Good evening, and welcome to 20/20.

Well, it coats the pots you cook with so the food doesn't stick,

it protects the carpet your baby crawls on...

- I miss carpet. - [shushing]

...winterjacket, your skin lotion, even your makeup.

We're talking about Teflon.

And tonight, our 20/20 investigation uncovers

alarming information about this much-used material.

It is very alarming, Barbara. I cook with Teflon.

I didn't know until I watched this report that you're about to see

that if Teflon gets hot enough...

...millions ofpeople have in their homes. Teflon has become such a familiar...

...a substance that is also used in clothing, cars, even in contact lenses.

...already found in the blood ofmost Americans.

Now scientists are saying...

PFOA... [continues in Korean]

...millions of homes across Australia. Teflon, a nonstick surface...

[man] The Environmental Protection Agency this morning

announced it has opened a priority review of the chemical C-8,

currently the subject of a class action lawsuit

against the chemical giant DuPont.

[Darlene] Joe!

Joe!

Oh, my Lord. Joe, just wait!

Wait for the fire department, please, honey!

- Please don't go crazy! - [sirens blaring]

[newswoman]...have triggered a mass panic among Chinese consumers.

[newsman] Should you throw away your nonstick pans? Many experts say...

[newswoman] Are your pans making you sick? That's the question being asked...

[newsman]...returns of kitchen implements coated in Teflon.

[Joe] The house was empty. It belongs to my father.

I don't know how it could've started.

[officer] His name Kiger?

Think someone might have got the wrong house?

[sighs]

[woman on TV] All of this hullabaloo is just silly.

Teflon is completely safe for cooking.

That is why we founded the Cook Healthy campaign

to set the record straight.

And besides being completely safe, it is also...

Copy that.

All the way down.

[engine shuts off]

[car door closes]

[man] We are now on the record.

This is the videotaped deposition of Charles O. Holliday, Jr.,

taken by the plaintiffs in the matter of Kiger et al.

versus E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company.

Raise your right hand.

Do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth?

I do.

[Rob] Uh, please state your name.

Charles O. Holliday, Jr.

[Rob] And are you presently employed?

Yes.

[Rob] What is your position?

I'm the chairman and chief executive officer of the DuPont Company.

In DuPont's most recent filing

with the Securities and Exchange Commission,

you state, quote,

"Based on over 50 years of industry experience

and extensive scientific study,

DuPont believes there is no evidence

that PFOA causes any adverse human health effects

or harms the environment."

You signed that legal filing, correct?

I don't recall the exact statement, but that sounds right to me.

Are you aware that DuPont has, in its own files,

studies dating back to the 1970s that say just the opposite?

That PFOA... or C-8, as it's called...

has potentially life-threatening effects on human health?

I'm not familiar with the exact studies we may have in our files.

Then I'll take you through them. Uh, exhibit nine.

Uh, you were just handed exhibit nine.

- Uh, you see the date March 13, 1979? - Yes.

- You see the DuPont logo at the top? - Yes.

Do you see this word here, highlighted?

Yes.

- Would you read it for me, please? - "Receptors."

Do you know what that word refers to, "receptors"?

Um, in this context, I do not.

It means human beings.

DuPont refers to the men and women

that your company exposed to C-8 as "receptors."

And in these receptors, your scientists found, quote,

"significantly higher incidents of allergic, endocrine

and metabolic disorders," end quote.

As well as, quote, "excess risk of developing liver disease."

- Do you see that? - Yes.

Moreover, you have infertility at Teflon.

Occurrences of leukemia. You have excess of cancers.

Bladder, kidney, oral, pharynx. Next paragraph.

Seventy-eight.

You see that heading?

You see that date? Do you see that?

Exhibit 96. Exhibit 53.

I'd like to move on to birth defects.

We've gone almost seven hours.

Mr. Holliday, you're aware that in 1981,

3M notified DuPont that it had conducted studies on rats

and these studies showed that sustained C-8 exposure

can cause facial deformities?

I'm not aware of a study by 3M.

How about DuPont's own studies that showed the same thing in humans?

That's DuPont's pregnancy study from 1981.

Does that look like a DuPont document to you?

It looks to be.

Are you aware that DuPont has denied that any such study ever even took place?

I'm not familiar with specific statements we've made about that.

Seven pregnant women,

all DuPont employees, all from the Teflon line.

Do you see this here?

Quote, "Child, four months, one nostril, eye defect," end quote.

Yes.

Two of the seven women, nearly 30%, gave birth to babies

that had the exact facial deformities that your company already knew about.

We're done here.

Sir.

His parents named him Bucky.

Bucky Bailey.

This is your receptor.

Now we're done.

[panting]

[gasps]

[lock clicks]

[inhales, exhales]

[electronic dinging]

[engine starts]

[sighs]

[newsman] The Environmental Protection Agency

has levied the largest fine in agency history

against the chemical giant DuPont.

The EPA concluded the company failed to report the health dangers of C-8

used in the manufacture of Teflon.

DuPont will pay the EPA $16. 5 million.

It earns a billion dollars in profits from Teflon each year.

[door opens]

To recap, we've agreed that DuPont will clean local water supplies,

installing filtration systems in all six water districts.

Additionally, DuPont will pay $70 million in cash to the class.

Three days' revenue on the Teflon line.

[light scoffing]

[mediator] Which leaves our most challenging issue:

medical monitoring.

We've agreed to establish an independent science panel

comprised of three scientists who have no relationship to either side.

This independent panel will study the members of this class

to determine whether C-8 exposure

has led to increased incidents of disease in this region.

If the panel finds that there are probable scientific links

to a particular disease,

the health of everyone in the class will be monitored for that disease,

in perpetuity, at DuPont's cost, up to $235 million.

And any class member who develops that disease

can sue DuPont for damages.

However, if the science panel fails to establish probable scientific links...

then this case is over.

No monitoring, no lawsuits, no exceptions.

Good. Well, gentlemen, you are now officially in the hands of science.

[Deitzler] Well... [sighs]

[Deitzler] Wouldn't have pegged you as a mai tai guy.

It's festive.

Wouldn't have pegged you for that, either.

We have something to celebrate.

- Yeah? - [Larry] Do we?

Look, how do we know that the panel is gonna prove

that DuPont made all these people sick?

I'm no scientist,

but even I know you'd need huge amounts of medical data,

not to mention thousands of blood samples and...

[Deitzler] From people who don't trust us.

"Hey, folks, we want to stick you with some needles.

You won't mind, will you?"

[chuckling] I mean, I know these people.

They're gonna take the money and run. Wouldn't you?

I think they want more than just the money.

I... I think they...

they want to know if they're gonna get sick or not.

Or if they have C-8 in their blood

and what that's gonna do to them and their families.

So, we're just gonna trust that they show up, huh?

[Rob] Trust but verify.

What does that mean, Rob?

Well, come in for an exam.

Um... give us a blood sample. Then we'll give you your check.

- On second thought, make mine a mai tai. - All around, please.

- Rob Bilott. - [Larry] Yeah. [chuckles]

- Where'd you pull that out of? - [Rob laughs]

[radio announcer] Healthy drinking water is vital to all of us.

That's why scientists need to know

if the chemical C-8 causes any health problems.

Starting today, you can help by completing a health questionnaire and having...

[switching stations]

Ah, come on!

[radio DJ] ...medical vans downtown.

Well, how aboutyou? Are you gonna get your blood tested?

[man over radio] Nah. I... I hate needles.

[DJ] It's 400 bucks, buddy.

[man] Really?

[DJ laughing] Got your attention...

[man] I don't think I can.

[chattering]

[woman] Okay, okay! All right, all right.

Yeah, that'll work.

We bring them back here...

draw the blood and hand them a check.

- $400. - Each.

Lots of money around here.

How many you brought with you today, Miss LuAnn?

My husband and my three kids and me.

- $2,000. - [LuAnn] Yeah.

Not too shabby right before Christmas.

[LuAnn chuckles] Yep.

But you ain't gonna find nothing.

DuPont's good people. You'll see.

["Deck the Halls" playing]

- Gigi, Gigi, Gigi! - [laughter, chattering]

It's your turn to put the angel on the top.

- You do it, sweetie. Gigi's too pooped. - Look at me!

Why don't you get your Uncle Ben to give you a boost?

Look!

- Ooh! - Mom?

- [Ben] What's up? - You okay?

- Can you put... Can you help... - Yeah.

Seriously, it's huge.

They're gonna be making you partner this year. I know it.

- Well, they'd better. I mean... - [phone ringing]

- Mommy, come see this! - Hey, baby, did you hang that ornament?

- [Sarah] Rob, can you get that? - [Rob] Mm, uh...

- [Carla] Let me see. - [Rob] Okay, I'm coming.

[phone continues ringing]

- Hello? - [Larry] Rob, you sitting down for this?

- Larry, what's wrong? - 69, 000.

69,000 what?

69, 000 people got tested. 69, 000!

You realize how much data this is? This is what we needed, Rob. This is it.

- Oh, my God. - You were right all along, my friend.

- Merry Christmas. - [chuckling] Thank you.

- You bet. - Thank you!

Talk real soon.

- Hey, who was that? - You won't believe.

- Daddy, guess what I just did. - Yeah?

- What? What'd you just do? - I put the angel on the top.

- Yeah? - Uncle Ben lifted me.

He did? Like this?

[grunts]

Merry Christmas, everyone!

[others] Merry Christmas!

We are gathered here today in the memory of Wilbur Earl Tennant.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

He restoreth my soul.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil...

[no audible dialogue]

[Teddy] Quick, everybody. Mustard or ketchup?

[Charlie] Teddy, for the tenth time, that's my ketchup.

[Sarah] Charlie, don't start.

[Charlie] What? It's mine. I got it.

- He's got his own, okay? - [man] You're that lawyer.

Finish up.

My brother's Dale Lamb.

You took his blood, said you'd help him.

Yeah, I did. We're... We're working on that. I promise.

He's dead. [sniffles]

Testicular cancer.

Left three little boys younger than yours.

But you enjoy your family.

- Okay. Everybody up. - I'm not finished.

I said up.

[no audible dialogue]

[door opens, closes]

[sobs softly]

Well, Darlene can't even leave the house without being harassed.

[Rob over phone] I know, Joe. I'm...

First, they blame us for suing DuPont,

and now they hate on us 'cause they ain't seen nothing from it.

- I'm sorry, Joe. - Well, that ain't good enough!

And they wonder why in the hell it takes four damn years

to read a lousy blood sample, and I don't blame 'em.

We trusted you, Rob. We put our faith in you.

- I know, Joe. I'm so... - All right?

- I'm so... - [click, line beeping]

Isn't there just some kind of a progress report,

anything that I can share with these folks?

I mean, they... they have been waiting.

[woman over phone] I'm sorry, Mr. Bilott.

The panel is still in the process of analyzing complex data and modeling

from thousands of samples and medical histories.

[sighs] I'm so sorry. Could you hold a moment?

[Rob sighs]

[cutlery clinking]

[Sarah] Charlie, don't pick at your food.

What's a hooker?

Where did you learn that?

He told me that Mary Magdalene was a hooker.

What? She was.

You're supposed to say "prostitute."

[Sarah] And then she found God

and became one of Jesus's most fervent disciples.

See? I was just teaching him the Bible.

I can't today. So, everybody up.

- [whispering] - [Sarah] Everybody up.

[boy groans]

[boys chattering]

Can we still afford it?

What?

Catholic school.

My brother's back in rehab. Did you know that?

No. I'm sorry.

Today's...

Today's Mom's first day at chemo.

I forgot.

'Cause it's not about your case, Rob.

Car!

- Gosh. - Okay. Jeez.

- [door opens] - [Sarah sighs]

[boys chattering]

Teddy forged my signature, and Tony's quitting football.

Tony. But how would you know about that, right?

Because all you see, all that you...

the boys have ever seen is you obsessing about this...

[sighs]

Have I ever complained?

Say something, for God's sakes, Rob.

No.

- No? - No.

No.

Because I knew that you needed something. Uh, some connection, something.

And so, I took it on.

But if you want to start accounting,

if you want to start with, "Oh, can we afford," then...

I don't know, Rob.

Can the boys afford a father who can't string two words together?

Can our marriage afford 13 years of... 13 years of this?

How about it, Rob? You want to talk about it?

About our lives?

Of course not.

I'll tell Mom you asked about her.

[Tom] What in God's name is that panel doing?

And why are we still getting bills?

Overhead, uh... [scoffs] Local counsel. Harry's call center.

A thousand dollars an hour.

That was a... That was a technical expert.

We needed to do filings when DuPont started lobbying Washington...

That's Washington's problem, not ours.

That's why you got them involved. Your memo.

It was just a fine, Tom. It's a fine.

[chuckling] $16 million, it's nothing for these people.

- It's pocket change. - Yes, but if they get charged

with criminal concealment, game over.

You said DOJ was investigating.

- Not anymore. - What?

They dropped the investigation.

- They dropped... What? - They dropped it. No reason given.

Tom, our government is captive to DuPont.

This case, it's the only hope we have.

They know that, and they're trying to make it

as expensive as they can to force you to make me stop.

- Just tell me how much longer. - Uh...

I... I can't. I... I wish I could.

- Tom, I... - Are you okay?

Uh, I'm fine. I'm just...

Rob, I'm a managing partner now.

- I have a firm to run. - I know.

And, Tom, I think there could be a huge payout here if we can...

You think I'm in this for money?

- No, I... - You think I'm...

I'm letting you drag this firm's reputation through a meat grinder

for some kind of plaintiff's payoff?

[echoing] I... I don't know why you're doing... doing it.

[Tom sighs]

[faint, distorted] Rob, listen, I...

I'm sorry, but you're gonna have to take another pay cut.

Tom, that's my fourth pay cut.

- What am I supposed to do? - I... I...

- [Tom] You don't have any... - [Rob] I'm down to a third now.

You don't have any clients. No one will take your calls.

What am I supposed to do here?

Now, I'm on your side, but...

Rob? Emmy!

Hey! Emmy!

- [Emmy] Kathleen! Kathleen! - [Tom] Get some help!

- Get some help! - Rob?

Rob?

[machine buzzing loudly]

[Tom] Looks like we should, uh, cancel my 4 o'clock with Jerry...

I don't know. We're waiting to find out. He was...

Well, uh...

Make sure that, uh, Jerry knows that, um...

I have to go.

- Mrs. Bilott? - Yes.

We think your husband's most likely experienced a TIA,

a transient ischemic attack.

Blood is briefly cut off to the brain, mimicking the symptoms of a stroke.

Uh, excuse me. A TIA?

This wasn't short. It kept going on.

What about poison?

I'm sorry?

[quietly] Could someone be poisoning him?

No, Mrs. Bilott. This is neurological.

You just said it wasn't a stroke.

[sighs] Not this time.

- What does that mean? - It means that

he needs to never miss his medication

and he needs to reduce all sources of stress in his life.

He's under enormous pressure at work.

Well, that needs to change.

But he's a young man. He shouldn't be having these incidences.

He's sedated, but you can see him.

- Okay. - I'll check in on him tomorrow.

Thank you. Thank you.

[Tom] Um...

I'll, uh, give you some privacy.

Uh...

Anything you need, call me.

I need you to stop making him feel like a failure.

I appreciate the stress that your family must be going through.

Please... don't talk to me like I'm the wife.

Did Rob ever tell you about, uh, moving around as a kid?

- Um, I, uh... - Ten times before senior year.

No friends, no ties, no... Just him, his sister, his folks and...

Then I came along, and you came along and, uh...

Taft... it's not just a job.

To him, it's... it's home.

And he was willing to risk all that for a stranger who needed his help.

Now, you and I may not know what that is...

but it's not failure.

- [medical monitor beeping] - [air pumping steadily]

[congregation] ♪ And you lead me ♪

- ♪ In ways everlasting ♪ - [Sarah sniffles]

♪ Lord, you have searched my heart ♪

♪ And you know when I sit And when I stand ♪

♪ Your hand is upon me ♪

♪ Protecting me from death ♪

♪ Keeping me from harm ♪

♪ Oh, Lord, I know ♪

♪ You are near ♪

♪ Standing always ♪

♪ At my side ♪

[fading] ♪ You guard me from the foe... ♪

[electronic bell chimes]

[man] Hey, do you know the score?

The game?

Sorry, my radio's busted.

- Sorry. - Don't worry about it.

It'll be a surprise.

Bucky, come on. We'll be late.

Have a good one.

- [car door closes] - [engine starts]

[no audible dialogue]

[door closes]

[exhales softly]

[papers rustling]

- [button clicks] - [phone beeps]

[man on voice mail] Hey, Rob. Bill Leary. Uh, we haven't met.

I'm the new comptroller out of Indianapolis.

Listen, we need to talk about your unbilled hours

and these un-reimbursed...

[ringing]

Hello?

[woman] Mr. Bilott?

Yes?

I guess I should start by apologizing for taking,

well, seven years to call you.

- Who is this? - Oh, yes, of course.

It's Dr. Karen Frank from the...

Science panel?

Again, I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting this long, Mr. Bilott.

Uh...

- But there was just so much data that... - Please, uh...

Doctor, please, can you... would you just please tell me

what's happened, what's happening, what... what you've found out?

Yes, yes. You gave us an unprecedented amount of data.

The largest epidemiological study in human history.

It's irrefutable.

We have linked sustained exposure to C-8 to six categories of serious illness.

[sighs]

[Dr. Frank] Kidney cancer, testicular cancer,

thyroid disease, preeclampsia,

high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis.

3, 535 people in the class already have these diseases.

Many more will develop them.

Thanks to you, the entire class will be monitored,

and those who get sick can seek restitution.

You did a good thing here, Mr. Bilott.

You did good.

Thank you.

[turns off engine]

- [Sarah] Oh. - Thank you.

[whispers] Thank you.

[crying softly]

[chuckles softly]

[chattering]

[Rob] Watch out, now. Watch your eyes.

- [flame whooshes] - Oh!

[cell phone vibrating]

Rob?

What happened?

Rob?

DuPont, they're reneging.

Which part?

All of it.

They're tearing up our agreement, rejecting the science panel.

They're gonna... They're gonna fight every claim in court.

Thousands of claims. People, sick people, they'll give up.

They can't fight DuPont.

How can they go back on...

- Sarah. - They can't go back on everything.

They're a titan of industry.

They can do whatever the hell they want. Nothing else matters.

They can fight you all they want.

It doesn't take away from what you've done.

Of course it does.

That's exactly what it does.

They want to show the world it's no use fighting.

"Look, everybody, even he can't crack the maze,

and he helped build it."

The system is rigged.

They want us to think it'll protect us, but that's a lie.

We protect us. We do.

Nobody else.

Not the companies, not the scientists, not the government.

Us.

A farmer with a 12th-grade education told me that.

On day one, he knew, and I thought he was crazy.

[chuckles softly]

Isn't that crazy?

[softly] No.

- [gavel raps] - All rise.

The Honorable Timothy Burg, United States District Judge

for the Southern District of Ohio presiding.

This court is now in session pursuant to the adjournment.

Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye.

All persons having business with this honorable court,

draw near, give their attention, and they shall be heard.

God save the United States and this honorable court.

- [gavel raps] - Please be seated.

And we're here this morning for a jury trial.

So... [sighs] 3,535 claims.

At a rate of four or five cases a year, we can all expect to be here till...

well, the year 2890.

If we're lucky.

Guess we'd better get started.

Mrs. Johnson, is your attorney present?

Good morning, Your Honor. Rob Bilott for the plaintiff.

Oh, still here, huh?

Still here.

["I Won't Back Down" by Johnny Cash playing]

[no audible dialogue]

♪ Well, I won't back down ♪

♪ No, I won't back down ♪

♪ You can stand me up At the gates of hell ♪

♪ But I won't back down ♪

♪ Gonna stand my ground ♪

♪ Won't be turned around ♪

♪ And I'll keep this world From draggin'me down ♪

♪ Gonna stand my ground ♪

♪ And I won't back down ♪

♪ Hey, baby ♪

♪ There ain't no easy way out ♪

♪ Hey, I ♪

♪ Will stand my ground ♪

♪ And I won't back down ♪

♪ Well, I know what's right ♪

♪ I gotjust one life ♪

♪ In a world that keeps on Pushin'me around ♪

♪ But I'll stand my ground ♪

♪ And I won't back down ♪

♪ Hey, baby ♪

♪ There ain't no easy way out ♪

♪ Hey, I ♪

♪ Will stand my ground ♪

♪ And I won't back down ♪

♪ No, I won't back down ♪

[song ends]